Made for Tea, Meet the Mighty Leaf Tea Team: Eliot Jordan

By 10:30 a.m. every morning I've tried at least 10 teas. That puts the morning cup of tea in perspective, doesn't it? But as the VP of Tea at Mighty Leaf, my days are packed with whole leaf tea. More than anything I'm diligent about tasting tea, lots of samples so as an example, when differences arise in say a black tea tasting, I'm able to stop and ask, âwhat's different about this tea? Tasting tea is like exercising a muscle, or maybe like studying a painting. The more it's done, the better shape my palate is in to taste discrepancies or nuances. In addition to tasting tea, my day-to-day job involves communicating with our suppliers and cross-checking with the people I work with to secure ingredients from around the world. What I love about tea is it's the ultimate yin-yang; it's both simple and complex. My days are full of work that I'm passionate about and I work closely with our tea team, Anni and Danielle to ensure the teas we blend and provide to our customers taste great with fantastic aroma.

My interest in tea started like perhaps many others. Growing up, my mom would throw tea parties and her interest in tea trickled down to me. After college, I took on a job at Peet's Coffee & Tea. At the time, there were only 5 stores. As I worked at Peet's I embraced tasting tea and coffee, which led me to conduct internal trainings. This started out as a part-time position that then grew into a full-time position. My interest in coffee waned and my desire to drink and understand tea grew. Jim Reynolds, now roastmaster emeritus at Peet's mentored me in tea as I learned on the job. Over time and after 5 years of working with Jim directly, I began purchasing the teas for Peet's, which also provided hands-on experiences traveling to tea-growing regions to meet with our suppliers. In 1995, I visited India for the first time, then in 1999, I first visited China. I draw inspiration from the care and diligence shown by the people who produce great teas, and I love traveling in countries where it's consumed liberally. The business of tea is old-fashioned and relationship-drivenâsomething I enjoy immensely. I worked at Peet's for 30 years and am now thrilled to be a part of Mighty Leaf Tea.